While the exercise is hardly unusual for Spears, her purchase was: a book.

Also, not just any book, but a $12.95 Hallmark gift volume, 50 Truths Worth Knowing, which she picked up, along with some candles, at a drug store in Los Angeles, photos reveal.

As the pictures show, Spears went shopping with her "cousin," Alli Sims. The pop star's outfit? Shades, a fedora and boots with the price tag still attached.

"If you like 'food for thought' you'll enjoy a veritable feast in 50 Truths Worth Knowing," is how the 216-page hardcover (with ribbon bookmark) is described on the Hallmark Web site. "A collection of fifty true-life experiences, this uplifting and unforgettable book offers convincing proof that the most important truths are often revealed in simple and surprising ways."

The singer, 25, has certainly been surprising herself of late. Last week, the normally brown-eyed girl tried out green contact lenses for a video shoot in Santa Monica.

Sims, 26, too was faced with a surprise development of her own early Sunday when, after partying with Spears at a private house in Hollywood, she was served with legal papers that will force the former assistant and friend to testify at Spears's divorce hearing.